J. Pat Carter, Associated Press First baseman Adam LaRoche talks to starter Zach Duke in the third inning against the Marlins in Miami.

By Dejan Kovacevic
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette MIAMI -- Zach Duke still stands just as tall.

When addressing the media, his chin is up, chest out, proudly aligned no differently than he was during that magical rookie run in 2005.

He still throws strikes, too, plenty of them.

More Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Armas' days numbered? Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic Today Game: Pirates (RHP Ian Snell 6-5, 2.92) vs. Washington Nationals (LHP Matt Chico 3-5, 5.08), 7:05 p.m., PNC Park. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7). Key matchup: Freddy Sanchez hit his only home run June 7 in Washington off Chico, who has given up an unwieldy total of 13. Of note: The Nationals' offense has failed to top four runs in any of its past eight games, going 2-6 in that time with only one home run. The lone threat: Dmitri Young and his .336 average.

Otherwise?

A search for similarities between this edition of Duke and that one is becoming increasingly challenging, as was painfully evident again yesterday in the Pirates' 9-7 loss to the Florida Marlins, one in which not even his teammates' late five-run rally could undo his damage.

In lasting only four innings, Duke was charged with six runs and 12 hits, meaning half of his 24 batters had a hit. This included a stunning sequence of five consecutive hits to open the Florida first on just 12 pitches and, one strikeout later, another hit to hand the Marlins a 4-0 head start.

The first of those, Hanley Ramirez's fly ball to Dolphin Stadium's distant right-field corner, was dropped by Xavier Nady and generously ruled a triple.

But all that followed?

"Well, we didn't make a play to start the game, but five of the next six hitters got basehits," manager Jim Tracy said. "And a few of those were two-strike basehits. It wasn't like he was pitching from behind."

That was no compliment, in this case.

The Marlins lead Major League Baseball in strikeouts and, as they showed in losing the first two games of this series, see precious few pitches they do not like. Duke got ahead of five of those first seven batters and had a two-strike count to four of them. Of the latter, Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera and Brett Carroll got hits.

"I didn't give them a chance to chase anything," Duke said. "Especially when you're facing a young team and they swing like they do, I didn't expand the zone at all."

But even that, somehow, seems insufficient in explaining not only this outing but all 17 that have contributed to Duke's 3-7 record, 5.79 ERA, his 141 hits that are the most in Major League Baseball and that outrageous .364 opponents' batting average.

Paul Maholm pounded the strike zone, too, in his masterful start Tuesday. But he was able to miss bats or induce meek grounders with those pitches.

Duke did strike out four, but half of those were against mound opponent Scott Olsen, and he would get only four groundball outs.

That would seem to indicate -- rather powerfully -- that Duke's stuff simply is not there, that maybe his fastball is lacking zip or his breaking pitches lacking bite.

But the Pirates again were insisting, to a man, that it was not so.

"His ball was moving pretty good, and it was down," catcher Ronny Paulino said. "But they just kept hitting singles and singles, one after another. He couldn't do anything about something like that. He didn't start leaving the ball up until the third or fourth inning."

Duke agreed.

"It wasn't about the stuff," he said. "It was about the location."

The Pirates pulled within 5-2 in the fourth on Adam LaRoche's two-run home run, his ninth, that was part of a 3-for-5 outbreak. But Duke allowed one more run in the bottom half before exiting.

Tony Armas promptly gave up a walk to open the fifth, then Matt Treanor's two-run home run, and the Marlins were ahead, 8-2.

Game over?

Not quite.

Paulino and Jose Castillo opened the Pirates' eighth with doubles off Olsen for one run, and Josh Phelps' walk chased him. After an out, Jose Bautista singled in another run off reliever Matt Lindstrom, Freddy Sanchez doubled in another and Jason Bay's groundout brought yet another.

Nady's RBI single pulled the Pirates within 8-7.

"It showed a lot about our team to fight back like that," Sanchez said.

LaRoche doubled off a fresh reliever, Taylor Tankersley, but Nady had to hold up at third because the ball went to left field.

Paulino faced Justin Miller with a golden chance to go ahead, but he flied out to center by lunging at an outside offering.

"To be in the position we were in, you've got to give our team a lot of credit," Tracy said. "That's a long way to come back. But we just couldn't get that extra hit."

There are some signs that management is growing frustrated with Duke, but not yet to the extent that he might be sent to Class AAA Indianapolis to work through his issues there.

To be sure, Duke has the support of his teammates, too.

"We need to stay positive about him," Nady said. "Everybody goes through struggles but, with how hard he works and the talent he has, it's bound to turn around."

"It's very important for us to stick by him," Sanchez said. "He went out there and threw strikes, and they were hitting them. That's a good offensive team over there. And hey, I can tell you that a lot of our guys would rather see that than walks. We have confidence in Zach and, hopefully, he has confidence in himself."

Duke was asked how much such support means to him.

"It means a lot to me that the team has confidence in me to bounce back," he said. "And I want to prove all of them right for sticking with me."

And the frustration?

"It's tough. It's tough just to see the little dinkers fall in here or there. But I have to take a look in the mirror and realize what makes this stuff happen."

The Pirates finished 3-6 on their 6,387-mile road trip.